Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-05-25
CABINET MEETINGS.
The Room in Which the President and Ill
Official Family Assemble.

The Room in Which tho President and Ills
Official Family Assemble.
In recent number of Lippinco.t's Md3d-
zine will be found an interesting contribu-
tion by William E. Curtis on ga Day With
the President " from which is taken the
following glimpse of Cabinet meeting:
The regular Cabinet meetings are held at
noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays of each
week, in the long, narrow room in which
Lincoln and Grant ana dozen of their
predecessors directed the affairs of the
Nation. The old table around which the
Ministers sit, if it could talk, would tell
stories that have TO place in history, for
the most interesting events that
occur in its presence never reach the
public ear. This historical room is always
| open to visitors when the Cabinet is
! not in session, and many tourists
inspect it every day. The interior is plain
ly furnished, the walls are painted drab
tint, and the ceiling Is frescoed with n
group of caerubs climbing among clusters
of gay flowers. The mante is a simple
affair of cinnam on-colored marble, and q
| fire Of hickory logs is usually blazing
cheerfully on the hearth in winter time
On the walls hang portraits of John
Hampden, by Vandyke, and of Washing
ton, by Cadena, a South American artist,
which was presented to the Government
in the time Of Hayes, and bird's-eye
view of the city. Maps of the continents
hang from patent rack, and in one COR
ner is large globe which af-
fords the Cabinet an opportunity
to study geography in tho inter
walls of their discussions. In another
corner Is revolving bookcase, contain
ing set of the Revised Statutes and the
last reports of the Executive depart
ments. Near the entrance to the library
is an old-fashioned secretary, where
Colonel Lamont sits when he is called
into the conference. The members OF the
Cabinet sit around the table in large arm
chairs upholstered in leather, the Presi-
| dent at one end with his back to the win
dow, and the Secretary OF the Interior at
| the other. At the Presidents right is the
Secretary of State, at his left the Secre-
tary of the Treasury, then the Secretary
OF War and the Postmaster-General on the
one side, with the Secretary of the Navy and
the Attorney-Gcneral opposite them. No
records OF the Cabinet mcctings are kept,
beyond an occasional memorandum made
by the members to remind them of mat
ters to be attended to, and the sessions are
not at all formal, being often varied by
storytelling, the Attorney General usual
ly having yarn TO relate. Each member
brings large, old-fashioned portfolio, and
oO-AA~
tury. They contain documents to be sub
mitted, and commissions for the Presi-
dents signature. When he signs them
| they are sent to the Executive clerk to be
J recorded and are then forwarded.
with blank oath of Office, to those
| who have been so fortunate as to
draw prizes in the official lottery Be
ginning with the Secretary of State, and
following the order of official precedence,
each member submits such matters as he
desires, and they are informally discussed.
No vote is ever taken, but each expresses
any views he may have on the subjects
under consideration. Memoranda from
one are often submitted to another for
examination and review, and legal ques-
tions are referred to the Attorney-General
for an opinion. All the proceedings are
supposed to be conf Dental; but the news
paper correspondents are usually able, by
means Of their own, to ascertain what has
been under consideration and how it was
/ jIspOsed of